


A Seven Nation Army Couldn't Hold Me Back

by Waxwing



Category: Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Daddy Kink, Dom/sub, F/F, F/M, M/M, gay for pay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-30 23:55:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waxwing/pseuds/Waxwing
Summary: Thor, a small town golden boy who peaked in high school has been growing despondent with his life as of late. The loyal childhood friends who viewed him as a borderline demigod in high school now treat him with (at best), fond pity. He's been alienated from his family ever since he ran away after dropping out senior year. He is completely lost until one  night a beautiful (if a tad abrasive) woman follows him to his car as he leaves the gym and makes him an offer that he can't refuse.SUMMARY: An AU in which the Grandmaster runs a dubiously legal, underground MMA competition in which Thor is desperately trying to make a name for himself. In the process he meets the Grandmaster's prized trophy twink (Loki) and inconvenient feelings begin to develop.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's make or break time and Valkyrie is a bad bitch.

It’s make or break time, Thor tells himself. He’s been on the circuit for about a year now and has made something of a name for himself as a “promising up-and-comer,” ripping through his opponents like tissue paper. The vain part of him would dearly love to believe that the reason it’s been so easy for him thus far is because he really is just THAT good but the part of him that’s a bit more in touch with reality knows that that’s not the case. So far, that part of him points out, he’s been limited to low profile matches against names that are even smaller than his own. Last month he’d made some guy who called himself “Tazer Face” cry in a make-shift ring that had been hasily erected in the basement of a condemed autoparts factory...Tazer...Face. 

His manager, a former fighter who went by “Valkyerie”, had assured him that every fighter needed to do a little “grinding” at the beginning of their career and that if he just kept at it (and stopped whineing so much) things would evetually pick up. Thor had informed her that he was just about fed up with “grinding” and that if he had to fight one more “Tazer Face” or “Gay Ghost” or “Spider Boy” he was going to consider getting himself a new manager...or maybe just going back to his job as a stripclub bouncer (he and Fandral were still friends after all.) Calling his bluff, she’d told him that if he though any other manager would take him, he could just go ahead and leave. He’d done a little bluff calling of his own and turned to leave her office/living room/kitchen/bedroom (she operates her business out of her stuio apartment) but just as he’d reached the door, she’d cracked. 

“Fine, fine, fine.” She bolted up from her desk/kitchen table and grabbed his arm. “I wasn’t gonna’ say anything until I knew I had it but there’s an event match coming up soon.” 

“Event match?” Thor is sure that that phrase is supposed to mean something to him but has no idea what (it’s a familiar feeling.) 

“Right.” Valkyrie smiles and pats his arm. “And the hook of this particular event match is the return of a previously undefeated champion who is coming out of retirement for one last fight.” 

“Which champion?” 

“...I don’t know.” 

“Why’s he coming out of retirement?” 

“...I don’t know.” 

“What’s this got do with me?” 

“Well...” Valkyrie let go of his arm, no longer worried that he was about to leave. “This weekend I’m going to be attending a party which I have heard that the Grandmaster may also be attending.” 

Thor knew who the Grandmaster was, at least, insofar as he knew that the Grandmaster was a rich guy who’s main hobby was organising big budget, legally dubious, underground competitions, basically the God of the secret world that Thor so desperately wants to enter. 

“If he’s there and if I can get his attention for long enough, I plan on pitching you as the opponent.” 

“Why would he even consider me for that?” Thor’s ego recoils a little at his own question but deep down he knows it’s a sensible one. 

“The angle I’m planning on going with is that pitting an undefeated champion against a...relative unknown makes things more interesting.” 

“...and...you expect that to work?” 

“It could.” Valkyre insists. “The Grandmaster likes drama and spectacle just as much as he likes actual competition and...usually...he likes me.” 

“Usually?” 

“He can be a little...unstable...” 

“You mean he’s crazy?” 

“ECCENTRIC.” She clarifies. “When rich people are like that, it’s called being ‘eccentric’...but, yeah, he is...and I did steal some stuff the last time I was at one of his house parties...” 

“You stole from him?” 

“Yeah but there were a LOT of other people there so he probably didn’t notice and even if he did he’s so loaded that he probably didn’t care.” 

“So...my career depends on you convincing some looney that you’ve stolen from that it would be more interesting to have a previously undefeated champion fight me...instead of someone that he’s actually heard of?” Thor sincerely hopes that there’s something he’s missing. 

“Yeah.” Is all Valkyre says in response while grabbing his arm again and pulling him out into the hallway. Once they’re outside, she goes on. 

“Just give me til’ Monday. I’ll call you... most likely sometime after noon and let you know how it went. At this point it’s not like you’re even risking anything and if it doesn’t pan out you can just go back to manning the door at the Savage Garden like you said.” 

“Or I could find a new manager.” Thor can hear the lack of conviction in his own voice so he’s not surprised that Valkyrie picks up on it too. 

“Can you even NAME any other managers?” She challenges. 

“...no.” 

“That’s what I thought.” She pats his shoulder before walking away, leaving him standing alone in the parking lot of her apartment complex. 

Thor had taken the bus home and spent the next 24 hours doubting every major decision he’s made in the past year and also starting to question rather Valkyrie is actually as well connected as she’s led him to believe (STUDIO APARTMENT.) He barely sleeps Saturday night and Sunday morning he calls Sif and asks if she’d like to meet for breakfast. This wouldn’t be noteworthy if it hadn’t been over a month since they last spoke. Sif is a little caught off guard, even before the month of silence their interactions were mostly limited to texts and facebook messges, but she agrees. They meet in a shitty little cornerbooth in a shitty little diner. They both just order coffee. Thor eventually orders a doughnut just so the waitress will stop glaring at them. 

It starts with the usual “Hows it ging? What have you been up to?" 

Sif has been in basic training and has been just as unavailable as Thor but for a better reason. She also tells him that she skypes with Hogan occasionally and he seems happy, he’s back in Japan and working as a fight choregorapher for films. Thor doesn’t know what that is but it sounds really cool. When a sufficient lull in the conversation presents her with an opportunity, she says exactly what he didn’t want her to say. 

“Fandral says that you quit working at the club.” 

“I did.” Since her tone was neutral, Thor tries to keep his that way too. 

“You found another job?” 

“Yeah.” Thor smiles but then looks down into his cup...he feels like he’s going to have to lie soon and he doesn’t like lying...mostly because he sucks at it. 

“So what are you doing now?” 

“I just...found another bouncing job that pays better.” Thor decides that he should keep the lie as simple as possible. 

“Where?” 

“Uh...at a club...in the city...you probably haven’t heard of it.” 

Sif clearly doesn’t belive him and for a moment seems to be considering prying but ultimately decides that it’s not worth the effort. She changes the subject instead. 

“I’m going to be visiting home for thanksgiving and mom said that she wouldn’t mind if I brought you with me.” 

Thor smiles. Sif’s parents have always liked him, when the two had been in highschool they’d always seemed to be trying to gently nudge them together. It probably had somehting to do with their being close friends with Thor’s parents. He briefly wonders why he’d never made a go of it with Sif, he was sure there’d been a time when he’d WANTED to, but that time is long passed. 

“She says that Frigga mises you.” Sif adds and Thor feels a dull ache in his chest. 

“I’ve just been really busy lately.” He rationalizes. 

“You could at least call her once in a while...just so she knows you’re alive.” 

“You could tell her I’m alive.” 

Sif bristles at that but then just looks a litte sad. For some reason that’s worse to Thor than if she’d started yelling at him. 

“It’s been nice catching up but I have to get going.” She rises in a way that conveys inarguable finality. Thor offers to pay the check but somehow Sif winds up paying it. As they're about to part on the sidewalk in front of the cafe, she suddenly lunges forward and hugs him. Thor can only bring himself to place a hand on the small of her back. 

“You’ll get back to me about thanksgiving, right?” 

“Of course.” Thor nods and smiles having no idea if he actually means what he’s saying. He watches her walk away until she’s out of site and then looks down at his phone. Shit, there’s still so much time to kill. 

Thor goes to his gym, where he doesn’t know what the membership fee is because he’s never needed to. The owner is a retired body builder who Thor had hit it off with in a bar one night. Now as long as he lets the old guy take him out for drinks once in a while and smiles and fakes interest in his stories and pretends not to notice when he gets a little handsy, Thor gets free acess to the facilities. He had used to joke about how he’s not gay, but there are certain conditions under which he’s willing to do gay things and he finds that that’s becoming less and less of a joke as time goes by. He pushes himself to the breaking point, hoping that then he won’t have the energy to be anxious. 

That night, finding himself still unable to sleep, he gets desperate. He walks to the corner gastation and gets himself one of those cheap plastic flasks of Segrams 7. Segrams had been his go to when he’d first started drinking (mostly because he’d been underage and the small bottles were easy to shoplift.) With his first swig, he downs three expired pain pills that he’d had left over from a long healed back injury. After that he just sits on his couch, watching an infomercial and periodically sipping from the bottle. At some point, without evn realizing it, he falls asleep. 

When he’s startled awake by the sound of his phone ringing, the sky is just begining to lighten outside. He grabs his phone with the intent of either muting it or dashing it against the nearest wall (it could have gone either way) but then sees that the call is from Valkyre. She’d said Monday afternoon and it’s Sunday morning. This is the first time Valkyre has EVER gotten back to him BEFORE a stated deadline...Thor’s not sure if that’s a good or bad sign. He answers cautiously. 

“Hello?” 

“THOOOOORR!” 

Valkyrie sounds thrilled to hear his voice which experience has taught him means that she’s so trashed right now that he should be grateful she can speak at all. 

“How are you up this early?” 

“I’m not ‘up’, stupid, I haven’t even been down yet.” She laughs as though she’s just made a joke, Thor supposes he’ll have to trust her on that. “I just ducked out of the party for a little bit so I could tell you...” 

Thor waits for her to go on...he waits a little longer...he CONTINUES waiting... 

“VALKYRIE!” 

“What?!” 

“What were you going to tell me?” 

“Oh, right.” She laughs in a breathy relieved sort of way and then goes on in an excited whisper. “We’re in.” 

“You mean I got the match?” 

“Fuck yeah I mean you got the match!” Thor starts at the sudden increase in the volume of her voice but his spirits remain undampened. 

“Really?!” 

“REALLY!!! Because I AM a BAD BITCH! But...like...in a responsible...managerial kind a way.” 

There’s a silence during which Thor thinks he hears a combination of vomiting and techno music in the background but then she’s back. 

“So what I’m saying is that you should rest up now because come tomorrow...or...come MONDAY... 

“Afternoon.” Thor reminds. 

“Definately afternoon, you meet me down at the gym and we’re gonna start on serious training.” 

“You haven’t been serious about training me all this time.” 

“....ehhhhhh...30/70 but you can bet you’re ass it’s 100% from here on out!” 

“Yeah!” Thor yells into the phone, starting to get genuinely riled up. 

“Ok...but I...gotta go...” 

“Why?” 

“Because I’m about to start throwin' up again.’ 

“Oh”, thor cringes “could you maybe just...tell me who I’m figiting first?” 

The noises that follow clearly indicate that she can not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actually, it's God of Thunder.

A month later (still struggling to believe that he’d survived a month of Valkyrie’s 100% serious training), Thor finds himself in the women’s locker room of a YMCA that’s been refitted into a private dressingroom for him. It’s not bad (nice, actually) but Thor still feels a little insulted by the fact that he was put in the women’s locker room while his opponent (who’s name he still doesn’t know) got the men’s. It doesn’t help that a make-up girl came by earlier and put blue and gold makeup around his eyes (to match the boots and tight shorts that he’d been given to wear) and spray glitter in his hair. Apparently the Grandmaster insists that every fighter be in some sort of costume and, since he doesn’t normally wear one, the wardrobe people had put one together for him. The makeup girl had asked to take a selfie with him when she was done. 

Thor tries to put that all that out of his mind and focus on who his opponent could be. Valkyrie had heard that there was a good chance it would be Drax the Destroyer and Thor had hoped that that was true. Drax had had a fighting style similar to Thor’s. Unfortunately in his conversation with the makeup girl (she was extremely talkative) Thor had learned that Drax was in fact in the audience, front row with “some little piece of arm candy cuddled up next to him.” Thor would eventually learn that that “arm candy” was Drax’s adopted daughter, Mantis. Drax’s presence in the audience SHOULLD have helped narrow it down, but Drax had been on the circuit an unusually long time and had trained, managed and sponsored other fighters after he retired. This ensured that every other potential opponent was somone with whom Drax had either a personal or professional relationship. Thor is pulled out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder and turns to see a good looking (if a little husky) guy with green eyes and short, reddish brown hair looking at him anxiously. 

“Hey! I’m Peter Quill, the light and sound guy.” He holds out his hand for Thor to shake. “You might remember me as Star-Lord.” 

Thor stares blankly and Quill’s smile fades. 

“...I’m also Gamora’s boyfriend.” 

“Oh.” Of course Thor knows who Gamora is...he hadn’t know she had a boyfriend. “Is Gamora gonna’ be watching the match?” 

“Uh...no...she’s visiting her dad...” Quill scratches the back of his neck. “Anyway, I just need to know if you have a theme song.” 

“A what?” 

“Some fighters have a song they like me to play when they come in...to amp up the crowd.” 

“No...should I?” 

“I’ll figure somethin’ out.” Quill says, as though he’s doing Thor a big favor. “Also, both sides of the ring are rigged with pirotechnics but I don’t HAVE to use them...but they are WICKED awesome...” 

He looks at Thor expectantly. 

“This all sounds like stuff that you should have asked me about more than 15 minutes before the match.” 

“Hey! Who’s the light and sound guy here?” Quill’s stance turns combative and Thor backs down more out of exasperation than anything. 

“Do whatever you want.” 

Quill smiles like a kid who’s just been given a box of fire crackers and heads for the door. 

“Wait!” Thor calls after him and Quill stops with his hand on the door knob. “Do you know who I’m fighting?” 

“Oh yeah.” The other man laughs and opens the door to leave. “Good luck, Lord of Thunder, you’re gonna’ need it.” 

He’s gone before Thor can tell him that, actually, it’s GOD of Thunder. 

Fifteen minutes later Thor is standing outside the gymnasium. He and Valkyrie had done a walk around when they’d first gotten here a few hours earlier and even then it had been hard to believe that at risk youths played basketball in that room during the day. When Thor expressed confusion at a raised platform along the north wall, Valkyre had explained to him that that was where the Grandmaster’s “private box” was going to go. 

“You didn’t think he sat down here with the common folk, did you?” 

The box is going to be across the room from him when he enters but he makes a meantal note not to look up there too much, he needs to seem like he belongs here. 

“You ready?” Valkyrie appears to his left, she’s holding a walkie talkie. 

“I think so.” 

“That’s the spirit.” She lightly punches his shoulder, clearly not having actually heard what he said, then pulls the trigger on her walkie talkie. “Open the doors.” 

The doors in front of him open and Valkyrie leads him forward, stopping him just before he actually enters. From here he can see the platform and, on it, the Grandmaster. He’s talking into a microphone that makes his voice echo around the auditorium like the voice of God... In this instance God is a tall, lanky guy in his early 50s (Thor guesses), wearing a metallic gold suit with a blue dress shirt and matching eye liner. This is not what Thor had been expecting. He’s so caught off guard that he misses most of his own introduction, luckily tuneing back in before his name is said...well... something LIKE his name. 

“...and now... without furthur ado...I give you...your, uh... LORD OF THUNDER!” 

“God of Thunder.” Thor mutters under his breath as he puts on his game face and charges into the arena. He makes his entrance to “Thunder Struck” by AC/DC (not bad, he thinks, a little on the nose maybe) and blasts of pyrotechnics on either side of him (that IS pretty awesome.) To his surprise he actually gets some applause. As they wait for it to dye down, the Grandmaster looks him up and down, he’s smiling but his gaze is cold and sharp, like a hawk eyeing a squirrel. Thor does his best to look simultaniously intimidating and nonplused. 

“Alright, alright...” The Grandmaster says as the music is cut and the applause dies down unsettlingly abruply. “I know, he’s-he’s aweful pretty, isn’t he?” 

The crowd laughs as though on cue...somebody whistles. 

“But I think it’s time we got to what you all actually came here for.” A hush falls over the crowd and the Grandmaster pauses longer than necessary, soaking in the wrapped attention. 

“Ladies and gentleman...it is my great honor and priviledge to introduce to you a man-a man who...frankly, needs no introduction. So-know what?- I think I’m just gonna’ let him introduce himself.” 

As the audio feed switches over to a different microphone, the Grandmaster grins down at Thor like he's been let in on a particularily mean joke at Thor's expense. Then, Thor hears it, a low, gravelly voice enunciating each sylable slowly and carefully, like Frankenstein’s Monster saying it’s first words...just three words... 

“I...AM...GROOOOOOT!” 

There’s no music, there doesn’t need to be, the deafening roar of the crowd would have just drowned it out. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight.  
> I've added part of chapter 2 to the beginning of chapter 3 to help with how disjointed things were feeling.

“Groot” (origionally known as Groot the Brute) is remembered for three things; 

1\. Having retired undefeaated. 

2\. Being deaf: he could talk but had preferred to communicate mostly in sign language with his manager translating. 

3\. Literally being a FUCKING GIANT!!! 

\-----

Thor isn’t sure what a panic attack is supposed to feel like but as 7’7” of hard, sinewey muscle looms up out of the shadows in the entryway opposite him, he’s CERTAIN that he’s having one. It takes the condender’s applause far longer to die down than Thor’s did and the Grandmaster seems in no hurry to put a stop to it so for far longer than is comfortable Thor is forced to stand there just...LOOKING at his opponent. His arms are loose at his sides, HUGE hands like clusters of tree roots, his bald head is tilted to one side but there’s no readable expression on his face. The makeup girl put even more eyeshadow on him than she did on Thor but it’s sole purpose seems to be making his eyes look like round, wet pits. Thor is terrified but showing it is absolutely not an option, so he does what he usually does in those sorts of situations, he forces a smile. It’s satisfying to see the golem’s brow furrow in confusion. 

Thor’s not used to fighting opponents who are bigger than him (mostly because he rarely meets people who are bigger than him) and Groot’s fighting style doesn’t help. The term “fighting style” is used here in it’s loosest possible sense because there really IS no style to it, it’s all just reach and shear brute strength. He can’t get close enough to land any blows on the giants body and when he does manage to get him down by sweeping the legs, it’s not for very long. The highlight of the first round is probably when Groot catches Thor by the neck and whips him across the ring like a ragdoll. The crowd cheers and...nothing else happens...because apparently moves like that arent illegal in an “event match.” Thor would have appreciated having been told that ahead of time. The first round is a wash, the bell rings and the lights flash on and off (presumably for Groot’s benefit) and the fighters retreat to their respective corners. 

“They must have specifically told him to stay out of site before the match.” Valkyrie says grimly and it takes Thor a moment to realize she’s referring to the scrappy little ginger that had been waiting for Groot in his corner. “If I’d had known THAT was here I coulda’ told ya’ who you’d be fighting.” 

“Who’s he?” 

” Rocket...used to fight under the name Rocket Raccoon...” 

”Raccoon?” 

“He’d wear a striped unitard and on of those little rober masks...it wasn’t a great theme, anyway he was on the cirucuit for about a year, had one match against Groot and immediately decided to quit fighting and go into managment. He’s had other clients since Groot but Groot’s the only one that retired undefeated.” 

“When you were telling me who I COULD wind up fighting, I don’t remember you mentioning any god damned giants!” 

“My bad.” She doesn’t sound particularily remorseful. “I just didn’t think he was a possibility since word was that he’d only ritired because he physically COULDN’T fight anymore.” 

Thor gestures incredulously to the CLEARLY physically able behemoth on the other side of the ring, who is currently intently reading his managers lips. He wonders what they’re talking about. 

“Obviously I got some bad intel.” Valkyrie holds up one hand in a gesture of mock surrender (the other one is holding a bottle.) “I had heard that the reason he’s so big is that he’s got...like...a tumor in his brain or something. It was supposed to have been giving him migrains and seizures.” 

Irritation must be plain on his face because when she goes on it’s in a more genuinely remorseful tone. 

“Look at it this way, no one actually expects you to win.” 

“Than what the hell is the point of this?!” 

“Getting you noticed.” She looks him directly in the eye and places a hand on his shouder. “So just go out there and last as long as you CAN, give them a show and...try not to get your face too smashed up.” 

“...I hate you.” 

As Thor climbs back into the ring, he’s not afraid anymore, he’s pissed off. Throughout the second round he holds his managers words in his head (“no one...expects you to win.”) By the time he retreats to his corner again, there’s blood on his hands but he doesn’t know whose it is...he’s also won the second round. Valkyrie seems genuinely astounded and offers him a drink which he declines before plunging into the third round. By the time the fifth round comes the giant has gauze in it’s nose and bruises around both it’s eyes, Thor can’t feel his right hand and is getting a shooting pain in that side whenever he inhales. They’ve each won two rounds. 

This time he takes the drink Valkyre offers him (it’s some kind of beer but the label is entirely in Japanese) and goes into the next round in full berzerker mode. Either he’s suddenly gotten faster or the giant is getting tired. He’s also noticed by now that having such long limbs doesn’t help Groot’s coordiantion. When Thor does manage to destabilize him, it takes him longer to right himself than it would someone Thor’s own size or smaller. It’s a novelty to have the dexterity advantage and Thor oddly finds himself flashing back to Spider Boy. He’d beaten the kid (his face had been covered but going by the voice it had been a kid...or a girl) as soon as he’d gotten ahold of him but it had taken an annoyingly long time to get ahold of him. 

The fifth round seems to last forever with Thor going back and forth between dodging the giant’s blows and attempting to knock him down. At this point a sixth round seems guarenteed but then, in the last few minutes before the bell, something happens. Groot just LETS Thor tackle him...or at least... it seems that way to Thor...but he must be mistaken. They wind up on the floor, the smaller of the two men straddling the other’s torso and there’s...a struggle...Thor guesses... It just FEELS all to easy to press the giant’s shoulders to the mat and when one of those massive hands comes to rest on his shoulder (APPEARING to try and shove him off) Thor could swear that their isn’t any real force behind it...at least not compared to what he’s come to expect over the past four rounds. The struggle also seems to cease exactly three seconds before the bell. Sure, the giant makes a show of snarling at Thor and the nails of the hand on his shoulder dig into the flesh until they draw blood and the other comes up to cover his face but he’s not pushing. 

The bell rings, the lights flash and that’s it...it’s over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Loki wasn't at the fight, the reason why will be explained later. 
> 
>  
> 
> Groot has gigantism, which is caused by tumor growth in the pituitary gland and is often accompanied by deafness. 
> 
>  
> 
> The briefly mentioned Spider Boy was Peter Parker, he's starting college soon and was competing to help cover tuition.  
> He would later get a full ride scholarship from the Stark foundation and wind up feeling stupid about the whole MMA fighting debacle. 
> 
>  
> 
> Peter Quill initially attempted a career as a fighter under the name Star-Lord but was notoriously terrible at it, partly because he insisted on wearing a plastic space helmet which greatly impaired his peripheral vision.  
> He got the job as "light and sound guy" because the Grandmaster found him amusing and wanted to keep him around.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Valkyrie have become friends and everybody's got mixed feelings about Wade.

For a while after the ‘event match’ things aren’t much different for Thor. There’s more money in his bank account, the purse had been $50,000, and (after his inujuries heal) he sees more of Valkyrie. She trains with him every day now and while they train she talks enthusiastically (he’s never seen her enthusiastic before) about his prospects. Killmonger’s manager had contacted her just a few days after the match but she doesn’t think that Thor is quite ready for an opponent like Killmonger just yet. This is confusing to Thor because, from what he’s heard, Killmonger is good but not UNDEFEATED. So how can he not be ready for Killmonger when he’d beaten Groot...he HAD beaten Groot...hadn’t he? Of course Thor wonders about this but doesn’t say it out loud. In his experience when things are going well, the last thing you want to do is start asking questions. 

He also... THINKS that he and Valkyrie have become friends. She invites him out drinking with her once in a while. A few times he suggests that they go to the Savage Garden and that’s how he learns that Valkyrie likes girls (but maybe not JUST girls.) It’s on one such night that she tells him, with a degree of solemnity that had seemed unwarranted at the time, that he’s been invited to a party. 

“Is it a party or a funeral?” Thor laughts, he’s had a few and he’s surrounded by pretty, barely clothed women who’s eyes keep drifting back over to him even when they’re supposed to be paying attention to other guys. That’s one of the reasons he’d been hesitant to quit his bouncing job, they LIKE him here. 

“Oh it’s DEFINATELY gonna’ be a party.” Valkyrie downs half her drink. “It’s just that, for you, attendence is...kinda’ mandatory.” 

“Why just for me?” 

“On account of you having turned down the last invitation.” 

Thor searches his memory as best he can under the circumstances but doesn’t recall having turned down any invitations. Valkyrie has become good at picking up on his confusion. 

“Their was an after party for the event match, I told them you weren’t up to it.” 

Thor would prefer that his manager at least tell him when she’s going to be rejecting an offer on his behalf but can’t deny that he defintely HADN’T been up to it. He doubted that Groot had been either. 

“Do I have to wear the costume?” 

“No.” Valkyrie snorts. “Just try and look... presentable.” 

“Am I ever not presentable?” He gives Valkyrie his best smile and she rolls her eyes. 

“Can I get you anything else?” The bar tender (Vanessa) tactufully interupts their conversation. She’d been a dancer back when Thor still worked security here...of course back then she hadn’t been pregnant. Thor had been surprised to see her boyfriend (Wade) in his old position at the front door. Thor’s got mixed feelings about Wade...most people have got mixed feelings about Wade. 

“Nah, I think we’re gonna’ be settling up.” Thor hands her his debit card and she raises an eyebrow before taking it. Fandral (the owner of the club and one of Thor’s greatest devotee’s back in the day) had let Thor continue drinking for free even after he stopped working here but Thor’s decided he’s not going to be taking advantage of that anymore. He signs the reciept and then fishes around in his pocket to bring out a hundred dollars in twenties which he hands to Vanessa. She laughs and gives him a gentle ‘you’re ridiculous’ look before quickly slipping into her bra. The two leave through a side door that’s supposed to be just for the staff and stand waiting on the curb for a cab. 

“You wanna’ split one?” Thor asks, her apartment block is in the same general direction as his. 

“Nah. I’m gonna’ knock around a bit and then swing back here around two.” 

Thor looks at her questioningly. 

“Clover mentioned that that’s when her shift ends and that she wouldn’t mind someone takin’ her to breakfast.” 

Clover had been the (probably stage) name of a girl Thor didn’t recognize that Valkyrie had gotten a lap dance from. He can’t help but be a little impressed. A cab pulls up and Thor almost gets in but then stops himself. 

“When’s the party?” 

“Friday, I’ll text you details.” 

“Right.” Thor nods and opens the door to the cab. “You should try to get some sleep before we meet at the gym tomorrow.” 

“That’s entirely up to Clover.” Valkyrie shrugs and Thor laughs as he climbs into the cab. 

Thor is awoken at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning by a text from Valkyrie giving him details for th party and postponing their training session until one that afternoon. He rolls over and goes back to sleep until twelve. 

\----

The party starts at eight Friday night and Friday morning Thor finds himself feeling irrationally anxious. He tells himself that it’s JUST a party, he KNOWS parties. In high school, he’d thrown one himself EVERY SINGLE time his parents went out of town. This is probably going to be a bit grander than getting smashed on stolen liquor and trashing the family pool but...still. A party is a party. 

He finds himself neurotically going through his closet and wondering when all of his clothes became complete shit. Probably at some point over the past year, he figures. He hadn’t been the sort of person who’d put a whole lot of thought into his wardrobe and sinc he’d started training as a fighter he’d thought about it even less. Most days he just wore workout clothes. He texts Valkyrie. 

‘Should I get a suit?’ 

‘It’s not really a suit kind of thing’ She responds. ‘Beside, you’d need a custon one and that wouldn’t be done by tonight....’ 

‘Ur not freaking out, r u?” 

‘lol, no.’ He texts with shaky hands. 

He’s got one ‘job interview’ blazer that no longer fits him because he’s added so much bulk to his arms since the last time he’s worn it... when was that? Has he ever worn it? He texts Fandral. 

‘Would you wear a sleevelss blazer to a party?’ 

‘...no’ The reply comes fifteen minutes after the initial text. ‘And you are asking because....?’ 

‘I’ve got a date.’ Thor lies. 

‘Anyone I know?’ 

‘Probably not...met her at the gym.’ Thor half lies. 

There’s a long pause during which Thor tries to come up with a fake name for his fake date, just in case, but then... 

‘Is it that girl you came by the club with the other night?...Vanessa told me.’ 

Thor weighs the pros and cons of saying that he’s dating Valkyrie and ultimately the cons win. 

‘No, she’s just a friend...she only dates girls.’ Thor decides to change the subject. 

‘You’ve got Wade out front?’ 

‘Yeah...he’s evened out some since she told him about the baby. I figured they’d need the money since she’s going to be taking a break for a while after it comes.’ 

Thor can't think of a reply to that but Fandral doesn’t seem to be expecting one since his next messge comes immediately after. 

‘I’ll be on site at the club next Saturday, you should drop by.’ 

‘Sure.’ 

Half an hour later, when Thor has all his clothes piled on his bed and is considering setting fire to said pile, Fandral follows up. 

'When in doubt, wear all black.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear by all that is holy that the two leads will actually meet in the next chapter!
> 
> I feel the need to clarify that, for the purposes of this story, Groot looks like Vine Diesel if someone stretched him vertically, Rocket looks like Seth Green and Wade looks how he did at the beginning of the first Deadpool movie. Everyone else looks how they usually do except with different clothing.

**Author's Note:**

> MORE TO COME!!!!


End file.
